Fu Wanjuan: Deeply Grasp the Major Original Contributions to Fully Building a World-Class Military
A strong country must have a strong military; only with a strong military can the nation be secure. In the report to the 19th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping proposed “fully building the People’s Armed Forces into world-class forces by the mid-21st century.” In the report to the 20th Party Congress, he further proposed that “achieving the centenary goal of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as scheduled and accelerating the elevation of the People’s Armed Forces to world-class standards are strategic requirements for building a modern socialist country in all respects.” Fully building world-class forces is a temporal coordinate demarcated by President Xi Jinping for the construction and development of our military. He has done so with a focus on supporting the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through military strength, and by profoundly grasping the developmental trends of the world’s new military revolution and the laws governing the evolution of the international strategic landscape. This important thesis is rich in content and profound in implication. It represents a major innovation in the theory of the modernization of the people’s military, sketches a magnificent blueprint for our military’s modernization, achieves a value-transcendence over the military modernization of Western countries, and demonstrates our Party’s determination and mettle to accelerate the pace of strengthening the military. It will inevitably play a massive role in pulling and promoting the historic transition of national defense and military construction from large to strong, possessing epoch-making milestone significance.
It Has Clarified New Strategic Goals for Our Military’s Construction and Development
Goals signal direction, consolidate strength, and lead development. During different historical periods, our Party has advanced with the times to propose goal requirements for the construction and development of the people’s military, guiding our military’s construction continuously forward. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Mao Zedong led the formulation of the general principle of building an excellent, modern, revolutionary military; Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed the general goal of building a powerful, modern, and regularized revolutionary military; Comrade Jiang Zemin proposed the general requirements of being "politically qualified, militarily proficient, fine in style, strict in discipline, and robust in support"; and Comrade Hu Jintao proposed the important thought of strengthening the comprehensive construction of the military according to the principle of unifying revolutionization, modernization, and regularization. These goals and requirements responded to changes in situations and tasks, conformed to national and military conditions, and played a scientific leading role in our military's development.
Entering the New Era, how to continuously push forward the cause of strengthening the military under the Party's leadership is a major historical task. In 2016, during an inspection of the National Defense University, President Xi Jinping proposed the goal of “building world-class forces.” In 2017, at the rally celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, President Xi Jinping issued the great call that “we must accelerate the construction of the people’s military into world-class forces.” In the report to the 19th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping further pointed out that “the Party’s goal of strengthening the military in the New Era is to build a people’s military that follows the Party’s command, is capable of winning battles, and has a fine style, and to build the people’s military into world-class forces,” while simultaneously proposing to “fully build the people’s military into world-class forces by the mid-21st century.” Fully building world-class forces is a new expansion of the connotations of the goal of strengthening the military, as well as the concentrated expression and distinct hallmark of that goal in the New Era. This new strategic goal is both in the same lineage as our Party’s thought on the construction and development of the people’s military and a new positioning of our military’s development that advances with the times to meet the needs of new situations and tasks.
President Xi Jinping’s far-reaching planning regarding the full construction of world-class forces highlights an accurate grasp of the internal law of unifying a strong country with a strong military. It responds to the call of the times for the nation to move from large to strong and stand tall in the world, and it consolidates the dream of a strong military held by the Chinese nation since modern times began. “Military affairs are a matter of vital importance to the state, the province of life and death, the path to survival or ruin.” [1] The prosperity of a great power must be supported by a strong military; this is a universal law repeatedly verified in the history of human civilization, and it is an iron law proven by both positive and negative experiences in the history of Chinese civilization. The Great Han, which declared “those who dare to offend the mighty Han shall be punished, however far away they may be,” and the Prosperous Tang, which “horizontally controlled the six directions and made the hundred barbarian tribes gallop to serve,” [2] both possessed powerful and elite armies. Conversely, during modern China's contest with Western powers, its feeble military force became the first "domino" to fall. In the Opium War of 1840, Britain used "sturdy ships and powerful cannons" to shatter the "Celestial Empire" dream of "the one who occupies the center of Heaven and Earth being called China." In 1900, the forces cobbled together by the Eight-Nation Alliance numbered fewer than 20,000, yet even with over 100,000 Qing troops and hundreds of thousands of Boxer rebels in the capital region, they could not prevent the fall of Beijing and the indemnity of 450 million taels of silver... President Xi Jinping has repeatedly mentioned these instances of "heart-piercing pain" in modern Chinese history: "Once military backwardness is formed, the impact on national security will be fatal. I often read historical materials from modern China; whenever I see the tragic scenes of being beaten because of backwardness, I feel a piercing pain in my heart!"
The Communist Party of China, which brings together the advanced elements of the Chinese nation, and the people’s military under its leadership, have bravely shouldered the historical responsibility of realizing the dream of a strong country and a strong military since the day of their birth. President Xi Jinping pointed out: “The Chinese nation’s emergence from suffering and the Chinese people’s achievement of liberation depended on a heroic people’s military; for the Chinese nation to achieve great rejuvenation and for the Chinese people to achieve a better life, we must accelerate the building of the people’s military into world-class forces.” For nearly a century, the people’s military has acted and fought under the Party’s banner, keeping in mind its original aspiration and founding mission, maintaining its nature and purpose, hacking through thorns and briers [3] all the way, achieving one glorious victory after another, and establishing illustrious feats that will shine in the annals of history for national independence, people's liberation, national prosperity, and people's happiness. Today, our country is in a critical period of moving from large to strong. Facing unavoidable risks and challenges, and encountering the gullies and ridges [4] that cannot be bypassed in realizing the great rejuvenation of the nation, our military must obey and serve the Party’s historical mission, accurately grasp the strategic requirements of national security in the New Era, provide strategic support for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and always remain a heroic military that the Party and the people can fully trust.
President Xi Jinping's first-ever positioning of our military’s strategic goal as "world-class" is a top-level design made by grasping the trends of world military development and seizing the initiative in military competition. It is also the latest summary of our military’s practical experience in strengthening and revitalizing the military in the New Era, demonstrating the determination and confidence to build a powerful people’s military. With the in-depth development of a new round of technological and industrial revolution, a new world military revolution is accelerating. Its speed, scope, depth, and impact are rare since the end of the Second World War. History shows that every military revolution becomes a watershed for the rise and fall of various countries' military strength and even their comprehensive national power. With rebuilding military systems as their main goal, major countries around the world are adjusting the organizational forms of their militaries and stepping up the promotion of military transformation. When a hundred boats contend in the stream, those who row vigorously will lead; when striking the water midstream, those who advance bravely will win. [5]
Opportunities are fleeting; if seized, one can ride the momentum upward; if missed, an entire era might be lost. We must accelerate the promotion of military reform with Chinese characteristics, narrow the gap in military strength with the world’s powerful nations, and strive to master the strategic initiative in military competition. The new military revolution and the practice of strengthening the military in the New Era provide a once-in-a-thousand-years historical opportunity and favorable conditions for our military to fully build world-class forces. On the one hand, our military can rely on the country’s solid strength and strong development momentum, seizing the historical opportunity of the new military revolution to achieve "overtaking on a curve" or "overtaking by changing lanes" [6] to accelerate the enhancement of military strength. On the other hand, through long-term construction and development, especially the tempered progress since the New Era, the people’s military has strode forward under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Strengthening the Military, achieving historic successes and undergoing historic changes, laying a solid foundation for striving for world-class status. Confidence comes from substance, from grasping the correct direction of development, and from a clear understanding of oneself. Looking at the actual situation, our military still faces severe challenges; the problems of "two 'not enough' capacities" and "two 'very large' gaps" [7] have not been fully resolved, making the construction of a powerful military even more urgent. Only by planning according to the trend, acting in response to the trend, and following the trend can we catch up with the current, catch up with the times, and stand at the forefront of the era. By establishing the strategic goal of fully building world-class forces, we can effectively stimulate the passion of all officers and soldiers to strive and advance, consolidate the majestic power to tackle difficulties, and push the cause of strengthening the military to achieve new leaps.
It Has Realized a Major Innovation in the Theory of the Modernization of the People’s Military
With the development of productive forces, the continuous improvement of tools of war, and the increasing requirements for the quality of military personnel, the task of building a modern military was historically put forward. If this issue is neglected, one will inevitably be in a passive position or even suffer defeat in war. As early as the 1850s, Engels proposed building a military and commanding operations according to "modern" concepts, believing that to win in modern warfare, one must seek new material means and new methods of operation. Engels also systematically studied the history and current status of the militaries of many countries, proposing important thoughts such as: the prerequisite for modern methods of operation is "the level of wealth and culture associated with this stage of social development, which are likewise the necessary conditions for ensuring the modern military has the required quantity of weapons, ammunition, food, and other supplies; training the required number of qualified officers; and the soldiers themselves acquiring the necessary intelligence."
When the people’s military was first created, its strength was very weak, its weapons and equipment were extremely crude—relying mainly on battlefield captures—and military construction was in an embryonic stage. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Reforming the military system is inseparable from modernization." In Problems of War and Strategy, he proposed that after being equipped with modern weapons, "there will be a great change in the military and in combat," and "it will change from low-level to high-level, and from the Chinese-style to the world-style." After the founding of New China, the construction of the People’s Liberation Army entered a new stage of development. The establishment of the people’s political power both put forward new requirements for the modernization of the military and provided the realistic feasibility for achieving these requirements. In long-term practice, our Party has persisted in combining the basic principles of Marxism with the practice of constructing the people’s military, forming a theory of military construction with Chinese characteristics, and our military’s modernization has made significant progress.
Since the 18th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping has incorporated military modernization into the overall strategic landscape of Chinese-path modernization, proposed the new strategic goal of fully building world-class forces, and made a series of important expositions around achieving this goal. These profoundly reveal the internal connections and interactions among various fields, aspects, and elements of military modernization, creatively developing the theory of the modernization of the people’s military.
It has created new strategic arrangements for military modernization. The realization of any great dream is achieved under the guidance of scientific strategic arrangements. Strategic arrangements prescribe the goals, developmental steps, and paths for achievement during a historical period. Emphasizing strategic arrangements and being good at long-term planning are distinct characteristics and strategic advantages of our Party and our military. In 1997, after the 15th Party Congress, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission established the "three-step" development strategy for national defense and military construction. That is: first step, by 2010, lay a solid foundation for the modernization of national defense and the military; second step, in the second decade of the 21st century, achieve relatively large development in the modernization of national defense and the military; third step, by the mid-21st century, basically achieve the modernization of national defense and the military. In 2017, at the 19th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping proposed new strategic arrangements for national defense and military modernization, moving the goal of "basically achieving the modernization of national defense and the military" up to 2035, while simultaneously proposing to "fully build the people’s military into world-class forces by the mid-21st century." Not only has the timeframe been significantly accelerated, but the connotations and standards have also undergone a qualitative leap. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee further enriched the goals, tasks, and developmental steps, clearly proposing to "ensure the achievement of the centenary goal of the PLA in 2027." This formed the new "three-step" strategic arrangement for national defense and military modernization: 2027, 2035, and the mid-21st century. This series of strategic plans, from a higher strategic vision and broader strategic space, clearly depicts the magnificent blueprint for comprehensively promoting military modernization. The near, medium, and long-term goals advance in echelons and connect in an orderly manner, highly consistent with the "roadmap" for national modernization. This reflects the requirement for military capabilities to adapt to the strategic needs of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, making the picture of strengthening the military and building a world-class force even clearer.
Endowing military modernization with new connotations of the times. The concept of modernization is a dynamic development; different historical periods possess different connotations. In the 1950s, the goal of our military's modernization was primarily to achieve mechanization. Since the 1990s, it has primarily been to build an informationized military and win informationized wars. Today, a cluster of intelligent technologies—represented by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing—is continuously penetrating the military field, and the characteristics of intelligentized warfare [8] are increasingly manifest. In July 2020, while presiding over the 22nd collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee, President Xi Jinping proposed that we must "accelerate the integrated development of mechanization, informationization, and intelligentization." This important exposition conforms to the major trend of global military intelligentization and accords with the reality of our military's construction and development. Looking at the current state of our military, if we were to follow the old routine of completing informationization before proceeding to intelligentization, a new generational gap would open between us and the militaries of developed countries; yet, shifting the focus of construction entirely to intelligentization in hopes of reaching the goal in one step is also unrealistic. Mechanization, informationization, and intelligentization originated in different eras; the former gives birth to the latter, while the latter transforms the former. The "three -izations" overlap, penetrate, and support one another. This requires our military to persist with mechanization as the foundation, informationization as the lead, and intelligentization as the direction. We must accelerate the integrated development of the "three -izations," speeding up the shift from staggered, echeloned development to integrated parallel progress, and from point-based accumulation to systemic breakthroughs. In the process of promoting intelligentization, we shall develop highly advanced mechanization and higher-level informationization, leading the transformational upgrade of military modernization.
Defining a new developmental theme for military modernization. High-quality development is the "hard truth" [9] of the New Era and the primary task of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. As an important component of Chinese-path modernization, the advancement of national defense and military modernization, and the comprehensive building of a world-class military, must take the initiative to adapt to historical changes in the stage of development, placing high-quality development at the forefront. Development without quality is useless no matter how much is done; some may even become a burden and encumbrance to the troops, causing great waste. Currently, our military construction is at a critical stage of improving quality and efficiency. Slow development will not do, and low-quality development will certainly not do; there is an urgent need to strengthen strategic resolve, transform development concepts, innovate development models, and enhance development momentum. We must implement the new development concept completely, accurately, and comprehensively, adhering to the "five more emphasis" strategic guidance—namely, placing more emphasis on focusing on actual combat, more emphasis on innovation-driven development, more emphasis on systemic construction, more emphasis on intensive efficiency, and more emphasis on military-civilian integration [10]—to promote various constructions with high standards and from a high starting point. We must plan and advance all work around the strategic layout for strengthening and revitalizing the military, persisting in building the military through politics, strengthening the military through reform, strengthening the military through science and technology, strengthening the military through talent, and governing the military according to law, so as to continuously raise the overall level of military construction. We must coordinately improve the capability to fight, the quality of construction, and the level of readiness, persisting in leading construction through combat and promoting construction through readiness. All work, construction, forces, and resources must always focus on and serve the preparation for military struggle, accelerating the formation of a favorable situation in which combat, construction, and readiness are pushed forward as an integrated whole. We must comprehensively strengthen military governance, construct a modern military governance system, and improve modern military governance capabilities, driving the high-quality development of our military through high-level governance. These ideas represent major innovations in the concepts and models of military modernization and will surely lead our military to achieve higher quality, more efficient, and more sustainable development, realizing a new leap in national defense strength with new developmental achievements and accelerating the building of a world-class military.
Establishing new construction standards for military modernization. The standards for a "world-class military" contain universal perceptions regarding world-class militaries and must comprehensively reflect their common characteristics. Therefore, measuring whether one has reached world-class status requires not only a vertical comparison with one's own past but, more importantly, evaluating the standards of a strong military on the grand stage of global military affairs. We must grasp and plan within the broad pattern of contemporary global military competition, using foreign militaries—especially the strongest ones—as a frame of reference for horizontal comparison. Using world-leading indicators as a reference and focusing on the center of the stage and the very front of the track in global military competition, the "world-class military" concept clarifies the standards for military modernization from a broader strategic vision and strategic space: it must be commensurate with our country's status as a great power, be able to comprehensively and effectively safeguard national security, and possess powerful international influence. Not only weapons and equipment, organizational forms, and combat systems, but also military theory, talent pools, and training levels must all aim for world-class standards. We must achieve both a "leapfrog strength" of accelerated transformational development and continuous self-renewal, as well as a "transcendent strength" capable of contending with world-class rivals and winning international competitions.
The Value Transcendence over the Military Modernization of Western Military Powers
As an accompaniment to war, the military is a formal armed organization established for the preparation and conduct of war, and it is the main body of a state's armed forces. Therefore, researching and exploring how to adapt military construction to the needs of war has always been an important subject for politicians, strategists, and military commanders both in China and abroad. Surveying world military history, Western military powers often emphasize relying on powerful military force to make opponents submit, and even embark on the path of external expansion and plunder. Having traversed a glorious course of nearly a hundred years, the People's Army has never proactively initiated any war or conflict, nor has it ever occupied an inch of another country's land. History and reality fully demonstrate that the "world-class" status of the People's Army and that of Western military powers possess essential differences in their pursuit of goals, and the former has achieved a value transcendence. China's comprehensive building of a world-class military is not for seeking hegemony, nor for engaging in power politics or aggressive expansion, but to maintain regional stability and world peace, and to promote the development of the global governance system in a more just and reasonable direction. It is a guarantee for world peace and a growth of the forces for progress in human civilization.
This value transcendence stems from our military's unswerving adherence to the Party’s absolute leadership. President Xi Jinping pointed out: "With the Communist Party of China and its strong leadership, the People's Army has direction and strength in its advance." The fundamental principle and system of the Party's absolute leadership over the military began with the Nanchang Uprising, was grounded in the Sanwan Reorganization [11], and took its final shape at the Gutian Conference [12]. This is the political characteristic and fundamental advantage that completely distinguishes the People's Army from all old-style militaries. Reviewing the magnificent history of the People's Army, the reason our military has been able to rise up even more after setbacks, march forward courageously amidst hardships, and forge an "iron army" that cannot be dragged down, broken, or defeated, lies in the fundamental power of ideological guidance and the solidification of the "military soul" [jūnhún]. Achieving the Party's goal of strengthening the military in the New Era and building our military into a world-class one is a pioneering undertaking and a broad, profound military transformation. Only by unswervingly adhering to the Party's absolute leadership over the People's Army can our military always maintain its direction, its path, and its true character, and continuously conquer the "Loushan Pass" and "Lazikou" [13] on the road ahead, actively exploring a path for building a world-class military that is rich in Chinese characteristics and contains Eastern wisdom.
This value transcendence stems from our military's constant adherence to the people's standpoint. The people's standpoint is the fundamental political standpoint of our military and a prominent hallmark distinguishing the People's Army from the armed forces of other countries. At the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, President Xi Jinping emphasized: "As long as we always stand on the people's standpoint and win the heartfelt support of the broadest masses of the people, we can build an indestructible 'Great Wall of Steel.'" In today's world, the peace deficit, development deficit, security deficit, and governance deficit continue to increase. Seeking peace, promoting development, and realizing a better life are the aspirations of the Chinese people and the consensus of the people of the world. Only by adhering to the people's standpoint, keeping in mind the fundamental purpose of serving the people whole-heartedly, and being the "sons and brothers of the people" [rénmín zǐdìbīng] at all times and in all circumstances, can we always uphold the correct pursuit of values and safeguard the safety of our mountains and rivers and the happiness of the people.
This value transcendence stems from our military's effective fulfillment of its missions and tasks in the New Era. Marx and Engels wrote in The German Ideology: "As definite individuals, as real human beings, you have a determination, a mission, a task," and "this task arises from your needs and their connection with the existing world." The People's Army is an armed group for executing the Party's political tasks, and the Party's central task determines the military's mission and tasks. During the New Democratic Revolution period, the Party defined the "three major tasks" for our military: fighting, raising funds, and doing mass work. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, our military shouldered the mission of "defending the fruits of the people's revolution and national construction, and defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the state." During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, our military took on the task of "consolidating national defense, resisting aggression, defending the motherland, defending the people's peaceful labor, participating in national construction undertakings, and striving to serve the people." Along the way, the People's Army has grown through combat, innovated through inheritance, and developed through construction, excellently completing various tasks entrusted by the Party and the people. The Communist Party of China regards both seeking rejuvenation for the Chinese nation and making greater contributions to human progress as its mission. Entering the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, President Xi Jinping, with historical insight and a global perspective, endowed the People's Army with the mission and tasks of the "Four Strategic Supports": providing strategic support for consolidating the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system; providing strategic support for defending national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; providing strategic support for safeguarding national interests overseas; and providing strategic support for promoting world peace and development. Currently, the world is facing great changes unseen in a century. International competition revolving around the redistribution of power and interests has intensified significantly, and the struggles over the rules of global governance, regional dominance, development paths, and military superiority have become more acute. The more intense the competition, the more arduous the task of maintaining world peace and development. Peace must be backed by strong power; only by being able to win can we effectively deter war and ensure peace. Comprehensively building the People's Army into a world-class military will surely add more important weight and play a greater role in creating an international security environment of peace, stability, equality, mutual trust, and win-win cooperation, becoming a "ballast stone" for maintaining world peace.